This weekend featured some major Mixed Martial Arts action! The Two UFC cards and one World Series of Fighting card made for an action packed weekend. I’ll highlight some of the memorable moments below.
Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos slugged it out for25 minutes on Saturday night. Many, including myself, expected Miocic to get flattened by Dos Santos. However, Miocic took the fight to Dos Santos but fell short on the judges’ scorecards. I personally thought the fight was a lot closer than some of the scorecards indicated. Two judges scoring the fight 49-46 for Dos Santos was absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. Miocic certainly proved he belongs with top fighters in the division. The amount of damage that Dos Santos has taken in his last few fights is a cause for concern. He should take some time off before his next fight.
The Co-main event on Saturday night featured the returning Nate Diaz facing off against the surging Rafael Dos Anjos. Diaz came in 4.5 pounds overweight and failed to show up to his mandatory open workout. This fight was billed as a competitive matchup between two contenders but it was anything but that. Dos Anjos beat the breaks off Diaz with vicious leg kicks and heavy ground and pound. Diaz’s future with the UFC seems uncertain at this point. After coming in overweight, getting beaten soundly in the fight, and just basically being a thorn in the UFC’s side I’m not sure how much longer his UFC tenure will last.
Jamie Varner announced his retirement after losing to Drew Dober via first round submission on Saturday night. Varner won the WEC Lightweight championship in 2008 and has always put on exciting fights in his career. I wish Mr. Varner the best with his future endeavors.
At the TUF Finale on Friday night the first ever Women’s Strawweight champion was crowned. Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza both fought their way through the first all-women’s season of TUF. Namajunas was billed as the next Ronda Rousey while Esparza was praised for her high level wrestling. After a close first round Esparza completely took over the fight with her superior takedowns and top control. Esparza eventually locked in a Rear Naked Choke in the third round to become the first ever Women’s Strawweight champion. Namajunas is still young and has shown plenty of potential, particularly in her stand up game. She can still be the fighter that the media predicted her to be, it’s just going to take a little longer than they thought.
The World Series of Fighting featured two title fights on Saturday night. Lance Palmer took on Rick Glenn for the Featherweight title and Rousimar Palhares battled Jon Fitch for the Welterweight title. Palmer would claim the title by locking in a Rear naked choke in the first round while Palhares would need only 90 seconds to submit Fitch and defend his title. Palhares locked in a fight ending Kneebar, but it wasn’t without controversy. It seemed Palhares held onto the submission a little longer than he needed to. I would like to give Palhares the benefit of the doubt here but he has a history of holding on to submissions too long.
Thanks for joining me! See you next week!
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